1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to animal litter boxes, and more particularly to an improved litter box with a system for removal of waste without requiring the consumer to contact the waste or bend over during clean-up operations.
2. Background Information
Litter boxes for various domestic animals have been in use for many years, and provide a convenient method of collecting and disposing of animal waste. Typically, prior art litter boxes include a plastic pan filled with an adsorbent material, known as litter. Waste material in the litter is manually scooped from the litter with a sieve-type scoop, and placed in a disposal container.
Several litter box systems have been disclosed which improve upon this basic concept. U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,099 to Lapps et al. discloses a litter box with a tray for holding granular absorbent litter material, a hood member connected with the tray having a pet access port, and a discharge chute at a rear wall thereof, with a retention chamber adjacent the rear wall of the hood, a filter grid overlying the retention chamber, a discharge funnel overlying the retention chamber and a disposal bag removably connected with the discharge chute. In operation, the litter box is pivoted to cause the litter material to slide toward the rear wall. Uncoagulated granular absorbent litter material passes through the filter grid into the retention chamber, while coagulated granular litter and feces slide along elongate members of the filter grid into the discharge funnel, out the chute and into the disposal bag. Reversing the pivot movement causes the “cleaned” litter within the retention chamber to pass again through the filter grid and into the tray for use as a litter box. While the screen portion that sifts the litter is separated by a wall in the box, the soiled screen is located within the same enclosure as the box, thereby permitting the odors from the soiled screen to permeate the air in the box.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,480 to Dabolt discloses a litter box with manually retractable floor sections. A litter refuse container with a refuse bag holder is located beneath the floor sections. As the floor sections are retracted, soiled litter falls to the bed directly below. The floor sections are cleaned by the action of scrapers along the sides of the retractable floor sections. However, the soiled scrapers remain in the upper section, exposed to environment, and permitting odor to permeate the air in the box.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,648 to Ayle discloses an animal litter box having a bottom tray and a tilted screen along one end. As the tray is tilted, the soiled litter is filtered through the screen and returns to the tray, while the soiled portion passes over the screen, through a waste chute and into a waste storage bag attached to the chute. The tray is lifted again to redistribute the filtered liter back through the screen and into the pan. However, any soiled particles sticking to the screen remain in the litter box so that the odor permeates the air in the box.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,785,000 to Barbary discloses a kitty litter assembly having a pan hinged at a forward end to dump the contents. A screen drawer is mounted under the pan and is pulled out to receive litter from the pan when the pan is tilted and a gate at the end opened. A collector pan under the screen drawer receives the filtered litter, so that it may be returned to the pan and reused. The screen drawer is removed from the assembly to dump the waste on the screen, and then returned for reuse. However, any soiled particles sticking to the screen are returned to the litter assembly, such that the odor permeates the air around the assembly.
While all of the above patents provide the capability of cleaning the litter box, several utilize screens that remain in the box, which retain odorous materials. Others permit the complete exchange of the litter, but the consumer must then put up with the smell of the waste material until such time as the entire litter pan may be dumped and refilled. Finally, most prior art litter boxes require the consumer to bend over to the floor in order to clean the box.